Heiliggeistkirche (Bern)

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Heiliggeistkirche, Bern
Heiliggeistkirche, Bern as seen from the train station (northwest)
View from the west ( Bubenbergplatz )

The Evangelical Reformed Church of the Holy Spirit is one of the landmarks of the city of Bern . It takes its name from the Order of the Holy Spirit . In addition to the church services, it is still used today as a room for the Baroque Center Heiliggeistkirche Bern , exhibitions, concerts, discussions and other occasions. Opposite the Loebegge at Spitalgasse 44, it forms one of the architectural focal points of the Bahnhofplatz. Until 1865 the Christoffelturm was west of the church . In 1860 the first real train station in the city of Bern was built behind this church.

Predecessor churches

Members of the Order of the Holy Spirit began at the current location - at that time 150 meters outside the west gate of the Zähringer town - with the construction of a small hospital with a chapel of the Hospital of the Holy Spirit, first mentioned in 1228 . The chapel was replaced by a newly built church in 1496. After the gradual decline of the Holy Spirit Convent that began in the middle of the 15th century , the last two members were resigned and sent away from Bern in 1528 after the Reformation had been adopted. The late medieval church, which slowly fell into disrepair, was first used as a granary, from 1604 onwards again for church services. Until it was demolished in 1726, this now reformed church was expanded several times up to 750 seats.

Origin of today's church

In 1725 the council decides to build a new church. After Albrecht Stürler's projects had changed several times , it was built by the municipal works foreman Niklaus Schiltknecht (1687–1735) between 1726 and 1729 and inaugurated in November.

It is free-standing on all sides and is considered to be one of the most magnificent Reformed Baroque churches in Switzerland . It is unclear whether Schiltknecht was the sole architect of the church, because only his position as foreman has been preserved in writing. Stürler's idea of ​​the hall church was built with the facade design facing the alley, but it is also testified that the installation of the galleries , the design of the north facade and the change of the roof from a cranked ridge to a simple saddle roof go back to Schiltknecht alone. The final construction does not correspond to any of the submitted project plans, but some details from the various project plans can be found in the construction plans. At that time, it was common practice to not only entrust the planning to one person, but to a client.

  • View from the east ( Spitalgasse )

  • View from the north

  • Bern around 1638; G: Current location of the church

  • The Church of the Holy Spirit in 1865 during the demolition of the Christoffelturm

description

View through the church
Interior view of the pulpit

Architecture, outside space

Corresponding to the rectangular plan, the exterior view has the unity and severity of the pre-baroque churches of Rome or the Huguenot churches ("temples") from the first half of the 17th century. The elegant church tower pierces the gable roof behind the independent front. On the short, visible part of the shaft with four dials sit a Welsche bonnet and a bell tower, covered with a slim pointed helmet . Slender arched high windows are arranged effectively. The richly profiled cornice is crowned with a vase-adorned balustrade and delicate obelisks at the corners.

In front of the two-storey pilasters on the main facade is a strong portal aedicula made up of two pairs of columns. A strong segmented gable and an upper floor with flanking volutes , tympanum and dove of the Holy Spirit are enthroned above it .

inner space

A purely preaching hall without a choir was aimed for. The north-south oriented rectangular interior is characterized by 14 monolithic Corinthian pillars made of sandstone, arranged in an octagon , and a raised, free-standing stone pulpit from the Bernese Baroque in the north part of the central nave . The central portal, framed by free-standing pairs of columns and flanked by side portals, leads into the tower hall. Inside, mighty columns separate the gallery-provided gallery from the core of the room. The stucco barrel and the octagonal column closure on the narrow sides form a central space. The Regency - stucco of the total ceiling area above the nave and the galleries of Joseph Anton Feuchtmayer executed, the main work of this kind in Bern.

  • Barrel vault.

  • Barrel vault in the choir.

  • Church place sign Jenner .

  • Church place sign Delosea.

  • Church place sign Wagner.

organ

Pulpit and organ

A first organ was installed on the north-facing gallery in 1806 . Today's organ was built in 1980–1981 by the organ builder Metzler under the direction of Bernhardt Edskes , ( Wohlen ). The instrument is in the Baroque style North German scheduled . In 2004 two registers were replaced. The organ has 30 registers (1,935 pipes) on two manuals and a pedal . The playing and stop action is mechanical.

I Hauptwerk C – g 3
1. Quintadena 16 ′
2. Principal 8th'
3. Hollow flute 8th'
4th Octav 4 ′
5. Pointed flute 4 ′
6th Nasard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
7th Octav 2 ′
8th. Mixture III 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
9. Cornett 5f from a ° 8th'
10. Trumpet 8th'
11. Vox humana 8th'
II Rückpositiv C – g 3
12. Dumped 8th'
13. Principal 4 ′
14th Reed flute 4 ′
15th Octav 2 ′
16. Forest flute 2 ′
17th Larigot 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
18th Sharp III 1'
19th Sesquialtera II
20th Dulcian 8th'
Tremulant
Pedals C – f 1
21st Sub bass 16 ′
22nd Octavbass 8th'
23. Bourdon 8th'
24. Fifth 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′
25th Octav 4 ′
26th Night horn 2 ′
27. Mixture V 2 ′
28. trombone 16 ′
29 Trumpet 8th'
30th Trumpet 4 ′

Peal

The small hour bell of the six bells, cast in 1596, was taken over from the previous church. The modern C Major - bells from 1860 comes from the workshop H. Rüetschi in Aarau .

Well-known theologians

literature

  • Brigitte Degler-Spengler: The year book of the Holy Spirit Monastery in Bern . In: Bern journal for history and local history . tape 37 . Bern 1975, p. 29-41 , doi : 10.5169 / seals-245858 .

See also

Web links

Commons : Heiliggeistkirche (Bern)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Open Church : Volunteer Presence Service ( Memento of the original from December 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.offene-kirche.ch
  2. ↑ a b c d Historical Notes on the Heiliggeistkirche , A. 5., G.2., F.4., F.2., ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file; 509 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.offene-kirche.ch
  3. ^ Paul Hofer and Luc Mojon, Gesellschaft für Schweizerische Kunstgeschichte Ed .: Die Kirchen der Stadt Bern Volume V (Volume 58 from the series Die Kunstdenkmäler der Schweiz ), Birkhäuser Basel 1969, pp. 157–232
  4. ↑ Information on the organ (PDF; 2 MB) p. 57 ff.

Coordinates: 46 ° 56 ′ 53 "  N , 7 ° 26 ′ 26"  E ; CH1903:  600,146  /  199,663